arrant

PRONUNCIATION:

(AR-uhnt)

MEANING:

adjective: Complete; thorough.

ETYMOLOGY:

Here's a word that has had both its spelling and meaning bent out of shape
from use. It's a variant of errant (wandering). Earlier the word was used
in the sense of wandering or vagrant, for example, an arrant thief or an
arrant knave. Over time the word began to be taken as an intensifier so an
arrant fool was no longer a vagrant fool, but a complete fool.
Via French, from Latin iterare (to journey), from iter (journey). Ultimately
from the Indo-European root ei- (to go), which is also the ancestor of words
such as exit, transit, circuit, itinerary, obituary, and adit. Earliest documented use: 1386.

USAGE:

"Norman Macrae also dismissed the Club of Rome's prediction that the
world was about to run out of food as arrant nonsense."
The Unacknowledged Giant; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 17, 2010.